1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates to an ink jet recording apparatus and method in which ink droplets are jetted to form images on a recording media, such as, recording sheets, and more particularly, to an ink jet recording apparatus print head that includes a trap positioned within an ink sump and in close proximity to a rock screen to capture particles that slough off the screen.
2. Description of Related Art
Ink jet printers are a well known and widely used form of printed media production. Colorants, usually ink, are fed to an array of micro-processor controlled nozzles on a print head. As the print head passes over the media, colorant is ejected from the array of nozzles to produce the printing on the media substrate.
Computers, fax machines, plotters and printers have presented a growing demand for high quality reproduction and print quality on different recording medium. This demand has necessitated the efficient supply of contamination free ink to recording apparatuses and the development of better means of transferring ink to a recording medium. An example of an ink jet recording apparatus that employs solid-phase ink that is heated to melt and fed into a print head is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,030,972. One method of assembling a print head is disclosed in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US 2011/0141204 A1, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,303,093.
Current solid ink print heads utilize a rock screen to protect jets from contamination. The rock screen is generally effective at stopping particles whose smallest dimension exceeds the pore size of the rock screen holes. However, high aspect ratio particles that are narrow enough to pass through the rock screen can re-orient in the flow to potentially block a downstream aperture causing print quality defects. Additionally, the majority of debris that is stopped by the rock screen sloughs off and is delivered to the rock screen in a new orientation during subsequent flow cycles (printing or purging). This increases the opportunity for a given particle to orient in such a way that it can pass through the rock screen into the jet and cause print quality defects.
Hence, there is still a need for a print head that can eject contamination free ink and thereby improve the quality of printed images.